Motive Units

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Motive Units

• Psychodynamic Theory

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Motive Unit Theories

• Carrot theories
• Incentives pull (motivate) behavior towards
  pleasure
• Pitchfork theories (stick)
• Punishments push (motivate) behavior away from
  pain
• Tension produce drive states to reduce tension
• Low glucose causes feeling of hunger -gt eating
  behavior
• Freuds theory is a push theory

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Sigmund Freud

• Human is energy system
• Principle of energy conservation
• Energy tension
• Goal of behavior is tension reduction (pleasure)
• Behavior driven by sexual aggressive instincts
• Biological imperatives seeking expression
  (unconscious)
• Conflicts between instincts society central

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Sigmund Freud

• Clinical, idiographic approach to science
• Free-association
• Dream interpretation
• Projective tests

Original couch used by Freud in Vienna, displayed
in the Freud Museum in London
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Psychodynamic Structural Units
Conscious
Ego
Superego
Preconscious
Unconscious
Id
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Unconscious

• Motivation key
• Satisfy instincts
• Remain unaware of instincts
• Instincts can be
• Blocked, displaced, combined
• Expressed symbolically
• Dreams, accidents, slips of the tongue
  (parapraxes)

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Subliminal Perception Research

• Reveal unconscious impact?
• Unconscious conflict activation -gt responses
• Parapraxes related to current motives

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Ego, Id and Superego

• Components in constant conflict
• Ego tries to satisfy Id, SE reality
• Weak or strong ego

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Personality Development

• All have sexual aggressive instincts
• Individual differences due to nature of early
  environment (traumatic experiences, conflicts)
• Differences in methods/success satisfying
  instincts
• Instinct gratification changes during childhood
• Conflict between society/parents instincts
• Resolution -gt adult personality (by age 5)
• Oral...Anal...Phallic(latency) Genital

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Personality Development

• Fixation/problems determines adult traits
• Oral Optimistic gullible (E) v. hostile (I)
• Anal Fastidious orderly (C) v. messy
• Phallic Flirty promiscuous v. chaste
• Personality determined by age 5
• Conflicts, neurosis, traumas carry-on during
  adult life determines behavior
• Individual differences in defense mechanisms

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Anxiety

• Signal of threat or danger to person (ego)
• Desire becoming conscious or not expressed
• Conflict unresolved
• Activates unconscious defenses

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Defense Mechanisms
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Activity 4 Defense Mechanisms

• Groups of 4-5 will write a 1 minute skit
  illustrating 1 defense mechanism
• Each skit must include
• A setting (e.g., friends at a movie, club,
  library)
• gt 3 named characters (with at least 2 spoken
  lines each)
• clear demonstrations of the defense mechanism
  through dialogue and/or behavior of characters
• Each group will perform their skit for the class
  who will guess which mechanism is being
  illustrated
• PLEASE TURN YOUR SKIT IN AT THE END OF CLASS!

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Activity 4 Defense Mechanisms

• Defense mechanisms
• Projection
• Rationalization
• Denial
• Reaction formation
• Sublimation
• Isolation
• Undoing

• To do in order
• Pick mechanism
• Read understand mechanism
• Pick setting characters
• Write dialogue for mechanism
• Pick performers

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Day 2 September 16
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Reaction Paper 4 Freud

• What is your reaction to Freuds ideas? Does his
  view of human nature personality development
  ring true for you? What aspect of his theory do
  you particularly agree/disagree with? Explain.

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Evidence of Defense Mechanisms

• Yes but not psychoanalytical defense model
• Social Psychology
• Self-serving bias
• Accept positive reject negative feedback
• Downward social comparison
• Repressors
• High on social desirability, low on anxiety
• Report calm but physiologically aroused

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Evidence of Defense Mechanisms Denial

• Terror Management Theory Unconsciously defend
  against fear of death (Pyzczynski et al., 2000)
• Increases belief in cultural world view
• Adams et al. (1996)
• Homophobic men physiologically aroused to
  homoerotic material
• Subjective arousal non-homophobic men

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Adams et al. (1996)
Heterosexual video
Homosexual video
Blocked line non-homophobic Solid line
homophobic
Lesbian video
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Defense Denial Healthy?

• May be a matter of degree...
• YES
• Positive illusions of self-enhancement, control
  optimism associated w/ mental physical health
  (Taylor et al., 2000)
• Depression, adjustment, immune function,
  longevity

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Defense Denial Healthy?

• NO!
• Long-term distortion of reality unhealthy
• Suppression of emotion increases ANS (Gross
  Levenson, 1997)
• Emotional disclosure of trauma enhances mental
  physical health (Hemenover, 2003 Pennebaker,
  2000)

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Hemenover (2003)
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Cognitive Unconscious

• Freuds view of unconscious
• Unconscious hot, affective, irrational seething
• Contemporary Cold, logical cognitive
• Cognitive processes occur outside of awareness
• Implicit memory, perception,, emotion, motivation
  social behavior
• Not necessarily affective or motivational
• Behaviors, thoughts become automatic part of
  unconscious (automaticity)

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Cognitive Unconscious

• Implicit Social Cognition
• Unconscious attitudes, beliefs, feelings,
  behaviors
• Activated progress unconsciously, automatically
• Bargh Most day to day behavior (even goal
  seeking) proceeds in this way
• Bargh Pietromonaco (1982) Hostile words
• Krosnick et al. (1992) PA NA pictures
• Bargh et al. (1996) Primed stereotypes

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Activity 5 Cognitive Unconscious

• Groups of 3-5
• Describe 1 similarity and at least 2 differences
  between the cognitive unconscious and Freuds
  model of the unconscious (Pervin p. 207-8 Pervin
  John, p. 79)
• Based on this is integration of these two models
  possible? Explain.
• PLEASE TURN THESE IN AFTER CLASS!

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Psychodynamic Theory Contributions Limitations

• Contributions
• Early experiences
• Unconscious mind
• Rich observations

• Limitations
• Weak science
• Poor definitions
• Low precision in prediction
• Untestable unfalsifiable hypotheses
• Tension model problematic
• Autobiographical
• Freud was close w/ mom
• Victorian era suppressed sex

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Funny Freud
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Critique of the Motive Unit

• Origin of motives?
• Universal motives taxonomy?
• Operationalization of motives?
• Process of motives?